An example of how much God loves us!!!

At the bottom of this story is a link to the video of this amazing story. It is important to read the story first, then watch the video!!!! It reminds me of the relationship that our father in heaven wants to have with us. He wants to provide, protect, motivate, encourage & help us strive to run the race toward the goal..........

"....let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12 :1-2

".....I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. " Phil 3: 12-14

God is the one pushing us in the race toward the goal called heaven!!!! This is how much He loves you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Real Story:I try to be a good parent. Give my kids mulligans.Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take themto swimsuit shoots.But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick,26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not onlypushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towedhim 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaledhim 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in thesame day.Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken himon his back mountain climbing and once hauled himacross the U.S. On a bike. Makes taking your sonbowling look a little lame, right?And what has Rick done for his father? Notmuch--except save his life.This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 yearsago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cordduring birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable tocontrol his limbs."He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dicksays doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rickwas nine months old. "Put him in an institution.''But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the wayRick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rickwas 11 they took him to the engineering department atTufts University and asked if there was anything tohelp the boy communicate. "No way,'' Dick says he wastold. "There's nothing going on in his brain.''"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Ricklaughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to controlthe cursor by touching a switch with the side of hishead, Rick was finally able to communicate. Firstwords? "Go Bruins!'' And after a high schoolclassmate was paralyzed in an accident and the schoolorganized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out,"Dad, I want to do that.''Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker''who never ran more than a mile at a time, going topush his son five miles? Still, he tried."Then, it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. "Iwas sore for two weeks.''That day changed Rick's life. "Dad,'' he typed, "whenwe were running, it felt like I wasn't disabledanymore!'' And that sentence changed Dick's life. Hebecame obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as oftenas he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that heand Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon."No way,'' Dick was told by a race official.The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and theyweren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few yearsDick and Rick just joined the massive field and rananyway, then they found a way to get into the raceofficially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fastthey made the qualifying time for Boston the followingyear.Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn'tridden a bike since he was six going to haul his110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Well, now they've done 212 triathlons, including fourgrueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be abuzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by anold guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't youthink?Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "Noway,'' he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesomefeeling'' he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smileas they run, swim and ride together.This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finishedtheir 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out ofmore than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours,40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the worldrecord, which, in case you don't keep track of thesethings, happens to be held by a guy who was notpushing another man in a wheelchair at the time."No question about it,'' Rick types. "My dad is theFather of the Century.''And Dick got something else out of all this too. Twoyears ago he had a mild heart attack during a race.Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95%clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape,''one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15years ago.''So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care)and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from themilitary and living in Holland, Mass., always findways to be together. They give speeches around thecountry and compete in some backbreaking race everyweekend, including this Father's Day.That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but thething he really wants to give him is a gift he cannever buy. "The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types,"is that my dad sit in the chair and I push himonce.''(Now, watch the video)....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg

MY WASTELAND

This past week has been an interesting one. With my brother gone & the house empty, I don't have anyone to come home to at night to ask how my day was or to cook dinner with, or even just to hang out. I have been semi-lonely, but I do know that I am not alone. I'm curious to see how my life will be over this next year, but am anxious at the same time. Though my life looks picturesque (living in England & traveling Europe), I do wonder if I have lost the way & what in the world am I doing here. I am learning alot living here & if I was in the comfort of my parents home, living the same life I am living here, but with their security, rather than God's security, I won't be the person I am today & the person God wants me to be oneday. Today I read this devotional by Elisabeth Elliot that relates to what I am feeling (at the moment). I pray that it will give you inspiration if you are going through the wasteland!!!! Please let me know if I can pray for you!!!!

There are dry, fruitless, lonely places in each of our lives, where we seem to travel alone, sometimes feeling as though we must surely have lost the way. What am I doing here? How did this happen? Lord, get me out of this!
He does not get us out. Not when we ask for it, at any rate, because it was He all along who brought us to this place. He has been here before--it is no wilderness to Him, and He walks with us. There are things to be seen and learned in these apparent wastelands which cannot be seen and learned in the "city"--in places of comfort, convenience, and company.
God does not intend to make it no wasteland. He intends rather to keep us--to hold us with his strength, to sustain us with his sure words--in a place where there is nothing else we can count on.
"God did not guide them by the road towards the Philistines, although that was the shortest...God made them go round by way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea" (Ex 13:17,18 NEB).
Imagine what Israel and all of us who worship Israel's God would have missed if they had gone by the short route--the thrilling story of the deliverance from Egypt's chariots when the sea was rolled back. Let's not ask for shortcuts. Let's keep alert for the wonders our Guide will show us in the wilderness.

Knowledge is power.....and so are second chances

Tonight I watched this movie called Second Chances. It had Micheal W. Smith in it (I know it sounds cheesy!!!!), but it had a really good message. It was about this suburban associate pastor (Smith) who got sentenced by his church to go do an internship at their sister church in the inner city projects. The film brought up issues on racism, segregation, taking action, and prejudice. It made me more aware of how our churches are segregated, not by law, but by choice. How is it that we are all part of God's body, yet we are segregated by color, social status, and even denomination. If Jesus were here today, I believe that He would be furious at us. We are to love one another, to not have prejudice against one another, or pride toward one another. There was a quote in the movie that goes like this..... "Knowledge is power, but knowledge without action is powerless." Smith's Character and the inner city's pastor saw their sins (pride and prejudice) by the end of the movie, but alot of us never recognise that we have it also. Instead of giving your money to some charity (like the big sister church did to the inner city church-in the movie), why not put your actions into practice and volunteer at a boys and girls club, commit to helping feed the homeless, start a cooking/cleaning class for young single moms, or even spend time with an orphaned child. Don't let your life pass you by without investing it into someone else's life!!!!! That is my challenge to you!!

My inspired quotes

I was watching Motorcycle diaries tonight & got inspired to write some quotes. Please tell me what you think......
"Wide is the road and open is the way, that a man's heart may follow it's desire/destiny, that he himself may not know exists."
"A man who journals, is a man who looks inside himself to peer into the image of something unseen."
"To write is to reflect on the past, that we may be able to move forward toward the future."
"A man that journals is a man of depth, wisdom, and insight far beyond what is written on the paper, but from the thoughts within."

Shakespeare and sushi

So, tonight my brother & I went to Cambridge to spend some quality time together before he leaves. We decided to mix Japanese culture with the English culture by going to get sushi, then go to one of the shakespeare plays (Twelfth Night) that was showing in the garden of Trinity College. Cambridge is having a shakespeare festival in July & August, which allows people to sit outside and bring blankets, food and wine to one of the many plays being shown all over Cambridge. I do believe that this was one of the rare times that I've actually seen the English have a sense of community. Usually the English keep to themselves and don't really look at you or say hi when you walk past each other, but tonight was a different story. People were sharing blankets with each other, they were talking to complete strangers, and were sitting close to one another. I felt as if I was back in america for a brief moment. It was absolutly wonderful (including the play and the actors/actresses. It was by far one of my favorite nights here!!!! Cheers to Shakespeare and Sushi, two of the best combinations in the world (beside Jesus and Us)!!!!!

From my repentant heart

So this week has been absolutly crazy. With two of the girls I've been living with for the last month gone, my brother about to move, my accountabilty partner moving, my job changing, and me having to stay in an apartment with no television, possibly no internet by myself for 1 month, and the kids at my old work place asking me why I left. I feel abandonded and left behind. It's always harder to accept change when you are the one being left behind. I love moving to different places & seeing new things, but it's also easier that way to accept change, because you are looking forward to new things and people. When things change around you, yet you stay where you are, it is alot harder to accept the truth. This past week, my boss switched me out with an intern, so I am now working at the nursery next door full time, instead of working with the 5-12 year old kids at the youth center. The only reason he switched me out with the intern is because he wants someone to work another program in the youth center called open recreation, which is for 9-12 year olds and is everyday from 3-7pm and on saturdays. I was not hired to work this position, so he switched me with an intern at the nursery next door so she would work it. I saw the youth center kids yesterday & they kept asking me why I left them for the nursery kids and I told them the truth that my boss made me move & they should ask him why. One of the other staff thought it would be a nice to get the kids to sign a petition to get me back to the youth center & went around and got all of the kids signatures (including staff). Well, needless to say, my boss was very pissed off & came over and told me not to come over to the youth center for awhile. Here's where my sin comes in....... I decided to bad mouth him to my coworkers, to the parents, even to some of the kids. Cursing him out and telling them mean things about him. God convicted me of this today as I read one of my friends blogs.
I was reading an Elisabeth Elliot devotional on this today and this is what it says.....
How can this person who so annoys or offends me be God's messenger? Is God so unkind as to send that sort across my path? Insofar as his treatment of me requires more kindness than I can find in my own heart, demands love of a quality I do not possess, asks of me patience which only the Spirit of God can produce in me, he is God's messenger. God sends him in order that he may send me running to God for help.
The Psalms are full of cries to God about enemies--but it was the enemies that drove the psalmist (for example, in Psalm 64) to cry. If he had had no enemies, he would have had no need of a Protector. God will go to any lengths to bring us to Himself.
I've learned this week that no matter what you are going through, God is always right there next to you, guiding you and comforting you. I don't need to hold onto the stable, consistent things of this world to make me feel secure, but Christ alone. He is my rock and my foundation!!!
I've also learned that God puts trials and people in my life who challenge me. Even if I'm mad with them because they've wronged me, that doesn't mean that I need to bad mouth them and gossip about them. I need to cry out to God for justice. Revenge is the Lords to take, not mine.